


We Could Be Bigger And Brighter Than Space

by selinameh



Series: starships were meant to fly au [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, IN SPACE!, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Burn, Space Heist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-10-23 12:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17683310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selinameh/pseuds/selinameh
Summary: One moment Steve's walking home and the next he's being teleported aboard a spaceship to fight notorious space mercenaries with friends he thought long gone - and still the strangest thing in all of this happens to be the way Loki's hair glimmers under the fluorescent lights?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i love steve and loki, and i love thor: ragnarok but it didn't have steve in it so here we are, trying to fix it
> 
> this series is BARELY tied together, mainly just circling around the premise of "spaceship shenanigans", and there's really no need to read the first part if that's not your thing
> 
> also it seems that nowadays i refuse to write anything that doesn't have a hayley kiyoko lyric as a title
> 
> i've already written most of this fic, so i'll try to post chapter once or twice a week, depending on how fast i can edit  
> i do work full time so that's a fun & unpredictable thing to schedule around, but we'll make it work! this shoooould be roughly five or six chapters long

Steve is not sure what's transpiring around him, other than the fact that it's loud, chaotic, and nowhere near Washington.

A minute ago, no, _30 seconds_ ago he'd been on his way home after yet another meeting at the VA house. Sam has taken up the habit of coercing him into the meetings, bribing him with food and promises of rewatching The General for the umpteenth time - without complaining. His building had just come into view, rising from the fog like the concrete monstrosity it was, when all of a sudden Steve had been engulfed in green light. The ground had disappeared from under him in a blink of an eye.

Then, just as fast the ground reappeared under his feet, knees violently jerking as he made sudden contact. The black asphalt had changed into a smooth steel grey surface.

First it had been quiet, wherever he was. He could hear his laboured breathing and the heart that hammered in his chest. Then, at the flick of a switch, the world around him had erupted in a loud cacophony of noises Steve had a hard time following.

With his whole body still reeling from whatever it is he'd just been put through, it takes couple of breaths for him to start make sense of the hubbub. He picks up lines of conversation that seem to be in a heated argument, not connecting the threads until he hears his name.

“I didn’t ask you to drag Steve into this!” 

“You said, and I quote, ‘we need help’ and then very specifically, ‘from someone who’s dumb enough to agree to this!’”

“And how does that spell Steve Rogers?” 

There is a beat of silence.

“No, that sounds pretty much me to a tee”, Steve says, running on autopilot, before he has a chance to think about what's coming out of his mouth. 

The room he has materialised in is extremely bright, and given that the sun had set in Washington roughly half an hour ago, his eyes are having a ball trying to adjust to the sudden light. He rubs his eyes, taking delight in the fact that his hands are not bound. So not a kidnapping - necessarily.

“I’m so sorry Steve, we’ll send you right back”, someone says, and Steve finally recognises that it is in fact Dr. Banner. It's a surprising discovery, because the last time Steve'd seen Bruce, the man in question had turned into a raging green monster and promptly disappeared.

“No, we won’t.” 

Steve doesn't have to see to recognise who the other person is, the voice having etched itself deeply into his mind a couple years back in the midst of New York crumbling down like a house of cards. It's Loki, the god of mischief, and that sends Steve's bones rattling. Has he kidnapped Bruce? Was that why the man had disappeared? Was Steve next on his list of Avengers to subdue? 

“Of course we will! No way we’re dragging him into this mess!”

It sounds like Bruce is arguing with Loki, but Steve doesn't see how that could be possible. Clint hadn't been able to do anything except obey when the poor man had been under Loki's control. There is a chance that Bruce is in full control of himself - but who would be crazy enough to hang around Loki voluntarily, not to mention argue with him. Had Bruce lost his mind when he'd disappeared? Because the Bruce he knew wasn't this stupid, he wouldn’t touch a norse god hell bent on destroying worlds with a ten foot pole, not even with Hulk as back up. 

“What my brother means - hello Steve, good to see you - is that it takes some time to set up the right spell." Thor steps between the arguing pair, laying his hands on their shoulders. The thunder god winks at Steve, conspiringly, as if Steve's in on whatever this is. "Steve will be home in no time."

“No, I don’t mean that", Loki continues and slithers away from Thor’s touch. “You really think, that if I had a reliable way of carrying people between worlds, I wouldn’t already have used it to get us out of this situation!”

Thor seems to regard Loki thoughtfully for a moment or two before making up his mind on something. Steve is just a spectator now, fervently wishing that someone would have the good sense to take the time to explain what was going on. Yet everything seems so outlandish Steve's not outright ruling out the possibility of this all being an hallucination. He had been drugged on his way home, and any minute now he would wake up tied down to a wall with shackles and there'd be a german man questioning him. That'd be a piece of cake compared to this.

“That does seem like something you’d withhold for your amusement”, Thor says and he has the gall to shrug his shoulders apologetically.

“Unbelievable”, Loki mutters. He stills, glaring at Thor with the intention to kill. Steve readies himself subconsciously, ready to strike the god down. Thankfully the situation dissipates as Loki turns on his heels and storms off. It takes Steve by surprise, to see Loki willingly back off from an argument.

As soon as Loki is out of sight, Bruce and Thor share a look that speaks of something Steve has no business putting his nose into. He turns to look away, staring at Loki's receding back, feeling the need to give these two privacy for whatever reason. The moment is short-lived, however, as both men finally decide that it is time to address Steve.

“Sorry, Steve. If I’d known he’d gone after you I would’ve stopped him, I swear”, Bruce says, his whole body screaming of apology.

“What exactly is this? Where am I? What’s going on?” Steve asks, and he doesn't try to hide the confusion in his voice. He needs some answers, if he wants to start processing this anytime soon. 

“Umm”, Bruce looks sheepish, and Steve's sure that it won't bode well for him. ”It is a long story- but now? Now we’re being accosted by an intergalactic mob?”

“Why did you say that like it's a question?”

“We’re still debating whether it’s a mob or whether we’re actually just trespassing and they’re within their rights-” Bruce starts. 

“Loki was quite adamant that they’re nothing but trouble”, Thor butts in.

“Yes, but I don’t think we are in a situation where we can just go and shoot whoever, I mean-". It's obvious that Bruce has once again forgotten Steve, as his voice gains volume. Thor too has turned all his attention back to Bruce, the two of them clearly working their way through an old argument.

“No one has talked about shooting, Loki merely suggested that we-”

“That wasn’t a suggestion!”

“Bruce-”

“No, Thor, your brother needs to learn to communicate, he-”

“Hey, lover boys, it might be of interest that the Hendriksons are at it again and they're dangerously close to the kitchens."

Steve whips his head towards this new voice. There, by the door, stands a woman dressed up in a futuristic-looking armor, straight out of some of the picture books Steve had read as a child. She looks like a warrior princess, with her hair braided and white paintings adorning her face.

“Oh god, no”, Bruce mutters under his breath and starts running, Thor following quickly on his heels.

Steve can only blink, and accept that today's not meant for him.

“So, you another Odinson I should be aware of?” the woman asks, leaving her place by the doorway and walking closer to Steve.

“No. Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. You and Thor have that whole, more-muscles-than-necessary -vibe”, she says and gives Steve's body a once-over. It makes him blush involuntarily. “Then who are you?”

“Steve Rogers, ma’am”, Steve answers, “A friend of Thor’s.”

“But not Loki’s?”

“No- no, I wouldn’t say so. The couple times we’ve met he’s tried to destroy my home one way or another.”

“He tends to do that, but I’ve discovered it’s nothing personal”, the woman says, ”Daddy issues, mostly.”

“...Okay. I’ll take that into consideration.”

“Nah, don’t bother. He’s an asshole.”

And with that she turns around and exits the room, leaving Steve standing alone in a strange-- _where is he_? There are control panels everywhere, and blinking lights going off left and right. He stares straight ahead at some of the blinking lights, feeling oddly listless, when it comes to him that the huge panels he'd previously ruled out as giant television screens might actually be windows. And behind those windows is space, vast and dark, speckled with what he can guess are stars. He rubs his temples, trying to fight off the headache that's without a doubt on its way.

This day is ripe with potential to be the strangest day of Steve’s life. It isn’t there just yet, but the space-time-continuum is still young and anything could happen.

 

 

Though it requires a surprisingly lot of effort from Steve, he does manage to parse together a very compressed chain of events that has led him here, somewhere deep in space, on a spaceship that both Bruce and Thor call affectionally "the Big Bastard". 

Apparently, the ship he's on had been stolen from an alien planet, from some sort of a space maniac. Bruce had been Hulk and Hulk had been a gladiator, who had fought Thor, who had also been a gladiator, for however brief a time. The lady Steve had seen earlier goes by the name Valkyrie, and is an elite Asgardian soldier who's been a great help in their escape. Asgard was destroyed by a gigantic fire demon, and the Asgardians that were saved now reside on this ship, that has its course set to Earth. Oh, and somehow Loki had offered a helping hand in all of this? 

Loki’s presence is still a big question mark for Steve, but apparently the god has taken some actions towards redeeming himself. As far as Steve can tell, the reason he's on this ship is due to one of these bouts of altruism. By the sound of it, on their journey towards Earth they had come across a flotilla of an intergalactic space mercenary nation that was not playing fair and has, in an effort to spook the Asgardians, depleted the ships’ energy sources. Faced with this problem, the group had tried to form a plan to help them out. Loki had volunteered to use his powers to search for aid, which retrospectively didn't work well. There is only so much a single Steve Rogers can do.

Steve is currently eyeing a beverage of undisclosed origin that Bruce handed it to him a moment earlier, claiming it's drinkable. Not the worst offer Steve has ever gotten, all things considered.

Bruce's sitting across from him, his own drink in hand. He lets out a long sigh.

“It sucks that you’re here, but man does it feel good to see you”, Bruce smiles. The man looks tired, but the jittering that Steve has always associated with him is gone. There's a sense of steadfast happiness in Bruce, contently resting below the surface. “It’s been a weird”, Bruce starts and makes a vague gesture to illustrate his point, “however long I’ve been here. A week? A month? A year? Who knows at this point.”

“Sounds like it”, Steve says and offers a smile in turn. He takes a tentative sip of his drink. It's delicious, and he makes a happy sound before taking a bigger gulp.

"See, I told you", Bruce laughs and goes on a tangent on Sakaar and the brief glimpses he'd had of the place when Hulk had finally stepped down.

"We've missed you, back on Earth", Steve offers after their conversation comes to a comfortable halt. "We've been looking for you everywhere."

“Huh”, Bruce says, his smile coming to a halt. Steve can see him hesitating a bit. "I--" 

It's then that Thor walks to their table and promptly sits himself down next to Bruce. The two of them are now sharing a bench, and after settling at the end of it, Thor scoots closer, plastering himself to Bruce's side. Bruce visibly relaxes, and the smile returns as he turns to look at Thor.

"How'd it go?"

“I’ve had a talk with my brother. He apologises. Or, I think he would, if we asked- it was in the air. The apology. At least I would like to think so.”

“Hey, you tried, babe”, Bruce says and leans forward to kiss Thor’s cheek. It happens so naturally that it takes a moment for Steve to catch on. As he does, he tries to contain his surprise, but judging by the way Bruce blushes, he's doing a bad job. Steve smiles, a genuine happiness bursting in him.

This is a development Steve has not foreseen. But then again he has never been a gladiator bossed around by a space dictator, beating up friends old and new - who's he to say what the appropriate response is. Friends become enemies, enemies become -- this.

“He suggested we meet up and discuss what to do next. We’ll find a way to send you back, Steve”, Thor says as earnestly as he does everything.

“I-", Steve is not sure what prompts him to say what he's about to say, but decides to go along with it, "I don't mind staying here and helping you out. Would be a waste of your resources to send me back just as I've arrived."

"We can't ask that of you", Bruce says, "We've no clue what's gonna happen."

"I've fought worse odds", Steve smiles and finishes his drink.

 

 

Since everyone on board the ship has at one moment or another decided that Loki is a being who can be reasoned with, Steve decides to go along with it, for as long as it will serve him. He has to adapt, yet there are no guide books for this. Not to mention that Loki is the sole being who can return him back to his sorry excuse of an apartment if Steve decides he's seen enough. The two of them don’t have to become friends, but there is ground to cover between that and mortal enemies.

Steve is walking down one of the many corridors encased in the ship, towards the way Thor has pointed him. They've all agreed to meet up in one of the more secluded rooms to discuss their next moves, and to properly fill Steve in on what he's been dragged into. Steve, slowly coming to terms with the size of the ship, has decided to walk there beforehand, just in case he gets lost. Thor and Bruce have ship-related business to attend to before they're free for the evening, as couple Asgardians have decided to manage their cabin-fever through fighting, and Steve has nothing to contribute there.

The Big Bastard feels more like a floating city than any ship Steve's ever come across, and as predicted by himself, he's having a hard time navigating it. The ship stretches into eternity, corridors leading to more corridors, to giant rooms with tall ceilings, to smaller cabins housing Asgardian refugees. Steve halts to a stop, suddenly pretty sure he's on the wrong side of the ship.

“Looking for something?”

There is a smooth voice behind Steve, interrupting his musings.

“The boardroom”, Steve says, feeling dumb and turning around to see Loki standing behind him.

Loki stands tall in front of him, wearing all black and looking as untrustworthy as ever. For someone who’s gone through what Thor had described, he looks remarkably well. There are no dark shadows under his eyes, no bruises, fading scars or patches like Thor has. Loki eyes Steve with a peculiar look on his face, and takes a step closer. 

“Well you’re in luck”, Loki says. "That's exactly where I'm heading."

Steve has the instinctual need to cross his hands over his chest and that's exactly what he does. Maybe it's a safety precaution of sorts, as he has very little between himself and Loki. Instead of his usual shield and armor he's equipped with a pair of khakis, a smart t-shirt and a leather jacket Sam had forced him to buy. Not exactly military-grade tactical gear.

“Why does it seem like I’m about to receive one of your lectures, Captain?”

Steve lets out a defensive huff and lets his arms fall down. 

“Now that’s better”, Loki remarks, and walks past Steve further into the corridor. Steve looks after him, standing still, not sure whether to pursue or simply turn around. He could go and try finding Thor and Bruce after all.

Loki twists around mid-walk and faces Steve, looking at him expectantly.

“I’ll show you where the room is”, Loki says, and beckons Steve to follow.

They end up walking down the corridor in deafening silence for a moment or two, when Loki finally opens a door to their left.

The room is on the smaller side when compared to the grand halls and winding corridors, yet it seems to suit their needs just fine. There're no windows, but Steve's fine with not having any reminders of their current location. The colours on the walls and furniture are offensively bright, different shades of green going from sickly lime to deep emerald, with specks of vibrant seafoam here and there. Paintings with busy patterns and weird subject matters adorn the walls and draw the eye, even if they're not easy to look at. The room is clearly not a place designed to calm the senses, and Steve does feel himself on edge. The whole ship, come to think of it, is one giant migraine waiting to happen, not offering any rest under the fluorescent lights.

A large table is situated in the middle of the room, surrounded by comfortable, plush chairs. Steve drags one of them closer to him and sits down facing Loki. Loki stands still, and looks around himself with a faint smile on his lips as if remembering something. This would be a good time to question him, not having to worry about Bruce and Thor's reaction, but Steve hesitates. There are a lot of questions he'd like to ask, but a civil conversation with Loki has never before seemed like a viable option, and he finds himself loss at words.

“It's fine, you can ask me", Loki fills in the silence and glances at Steve. There is a brief moment where Steve is terrified, thinking that Loki could read his mind, before he realises that his rigid posture and uneven breathing pattern were just a dead giveaway of there being something on his mind.

"Why did you choose me?"

“Straight to the point, I see.”

Loki himself still refuses to sit down, but he does rest his hands on the table, leaning his weight on it, looking as carefree as one could in the middle of uncharted space.

“I told you earlier. We needed someone foolhardy to jump in and save the day.”

“I’m not the only one on board who fits that description,” Steve says and that makes Loki laugh.

“Maybe we needed someone expendable?” And there is that provoking tone, but Steve isn’t about to let it get to him. There is a real answer here, and he doubts this is it. Steve shakes his head.

“Well, what if I told you I might not have the answer that you're looking for?”

Steve doesn’t have to fake the look of surprise that overcomes him. Loki willingly admitting that he doesn't have all the answers seems a lightyear away from the Loki he last met, in the midst of battling aliens.

All in all this Loki he's seen here on this ship is so different from the one he’d encountered couple years ago. He carries himself differently, he lacks the aura of malice that used to cling to him like a second skin. He is nowhere near humble nor benevolent, but he's somewhere in the middle, exciting in a space created only for him. Steve hasn’t heard Loki’s account of what has happened since they last saw one another, but if Thor’s stories are anything to go by, it can’t have been pleasant, and those kinds of things change a man and a god. It'll take some time for Steve to come to terms with this, but he is willing to try. He hasn't always believed in everyone deserving a second chance, but he could be persuaded.

But that doesn’t stop Steve from goading now, however.

“A mistake? By you?”

“I said nothing about a mistake, simply that the exact... objective of my powers seems to be lost on me”, Loki frowns a little, as if confused, and sits down on the opposite side of the table, few chairs to Steve's left. 

“The workings of time and space are extremely volatile, not that you’d know anything about it”, Loki continues, “But, having said that, it was not my intention to drag you here.”

“How is that possible?”

“I’m not about to start explaining magical theory to you, we simply don’t have the time”, Loki says, “And I doubt you’d be able to make any sense of it, even if we did.” 

“So you don’t have your magic under your control?” Steve asks, smiling, knowing fully well from where the feeling of glee is stemming from. He's not being vindictive necessarily, but it sure feels nice to see Loki fumbling a little.

Loki gives him a murderous glare, but Steve can’t find it in himself to be scared.

“We were in desperate need of help, and this is the way my magic decided to deliver.”

“Your magic thought I was the right man for the job?”

Loki makes a vague gesture with his hand, neither here or there.

“Maybe your idiotic and self-sacrificing reputation precedes you”, Loki says as an explanation, “Even on the more abstract level of metaphysical existence.”

“I’m honoured."

“You sure?” Loki asks, a raises an eyebrow to accompany his words. He taps his long, elegant fingers on the surface of the table, his whole demeanour suddenly crying of poorly masked restlessness under Steve's scrutiny.

“Means I might as well go along with this”, Steve says with a slight smile.“To keep my personal brand strong.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Fast forward couple of hours, and Steve finally finds himself in the possession of the facts. For someone who loves the sound of his own voice, Loki sure does like to keep things as convoluted and vague as possible, especially when Thor is present. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that the gods were bickering, trading verbal jabs back and forth like their life depended on it. Loki was always a bit more vicious with his, but that was to be expected. Thor managed to hold his own, and it never grew into a full on fight or an argument, so Steve counted it as a success. That doesn't mean he and Bruce didn't share exasperated looks throughout their little meeting, trying their hardest to keep the conversation on track.  
  
They are up against the G’ats, an alien mercenary operation, who are known across the galaxy for being nasty in their dealings with civilians. Due to their current status of unemployment, they have virtually become school yard bullies, using their greater numbers and meaner weaponry to threat and steal from passer-bys. That’s incidentally how the Big Bastard had gotten into this mess, as it was drawn in by the G’ats anchoring technology that had in the process of locking them in place also depleted them of their energy and incapacitated the ship. The life-support systems and lights are currently running on the energy created by the back-up generator, but that’s not strong enough to also keep the ship moving. Essentially they’re becalmed.  
  
“And now they’re trying to sell the energy back to us?” Steve asks, gently massaging the nape of his neck. He's been stationary for too long and he's getting restless.  
  
“And asking roughly ten times the price”, Bruce answers, leaning back in his chair.  
  
“Completely unnecessary, as we do not have anything on us that they would accept as currency. Except maybe the ship, but that would be… extremely counter-productive” Loki says.  
  
“And you can't zap them, can you?” Steve turns to Thor, who has his arm propped against the back of Bruce's chair.  
  
“I could, but then we’d have to say goodbye to the fuel”, Thor says, clearly mourning this missed opportunity.  
  
The silence that follows speaks volumes. The situation is not looking good, and their options are limited. They either have to engage the ship in a battle, which is not really an option when you are a glorified cruise ship filled with Asgardian refugees with barely enough power to keep the lights on, or they'll have to find a way to infiltrate the flotilla and reclaim the lost energy. The decision is relatively easy, execution of it less so.  
  
“We need a diversion”, Valkyrie says from her spot at the end of the table. She had popped up in the room midway through their conversation with a bottle of blue liquid in her hand, and she’d listened with veining interest until now.  
  
“I’m not gonna bring the guy out”, Bruce says with a tone of finality.  
  
“No, we got to be subtle. We don’t want to let them know we’re going to-”, and at this point Valkyrie makes the universal sign for beating the shit out of someone, “-because our only advantage at this point is surprising them.”  
  
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Loki asks Valkyrie.  
  
"I don't know", Valkyrie answers nonchalantly. She turns to look at Steve. "Here you have a man all of you keep referring to as a captain, why not ask him?"  
  
"Uhh..." Steve starts.  
  
“Indeed, Captain Rogers", Loki says gleefully, "You insisted on helping us, so why not do that now?"

Why does his name sound so _dirty_ , coming out of Loki’s mouth.  
  
"Oh, stop it", Bruce says. "Don't forget we're all equally in this mess."  
  
Steve is thinking. He rakes his brain for ideas, for anything that could be a feasible option. Valkyrie's point about the surprise element is a good one, but how to best take advantage of it is still unclear to him. By actively engaging with the G'ats, they could divert their attention elsewhere, leaving room for them to steal back the fuel, but how should they go about it? The flotilla is gigantic, and not something they can fight against, if things go south. The plan needs to be foolproof, if they wish to come out of this unharmed and the ship intact.  
  
“I could engage them via the comms, try to bargain… again”, Bruce suggests, but he doesn't sound convinced. Thor looks deep in thought, and Valkyrie is eyeing all of them with a vague amusement.  
  
“You’re right”, Steve addresses Valkyrie, “The element of surprise is really the only thing we’ve got. Maybe we should find a way on board, undetected.”  
  
"How'd we get on board?" Bruce asks the obvious. "Their shields are strong. Not to mention this ship doesn't have any pods. Anymore”. At that he sends a pointed look at Loki, and Steve guesses there’s a good story there. Loki, true to himself, ignores the look like he does most things, appearing to be deep in thought.  
  
“I could maybe-- I _can_ move me and one other person on board”, Loki finally volunteers, taking Steve by surprise. By the looks of it, no one else has been expecting this either.  
  
“Oh that’s right, we have magic. Why do I always forget we have magic?” Bruce exclaims, sounding relieved. Loki, however, seems to disagree with this statement.  
  
“No, _I_ have magic”, he says with a sour look on his face, “and it’s up to me how I use it.”  
  
“And you’re naturally _choosing_ to help us to get out of here, aren’t you?” Valkyrie asks.  
  
“Naturally”, Loki says after appearing to ponder the topic for the fun of it.  
  
“Say you do get on one of the ships, undetected, how’s that going to aid us?” Thor asks, hiding a yawn behind his hand. “For starters you might board the wrong ship, there’re so many of them!”  
  
“All the ships run on the same energy, it doesn’t matter which one we board”, Loki says. “We might even try one of their cargo ships, as they won’t be as heavily manned as the ones meant to engage in battle”.  
  
“So, we sneak in, wait for the opportune moment and somehow run away with the energy?”  
  
This comes as close to reaching a consensus as they currently can, given their resources and situation. None of them are exactly jumping in joy, but at least it’s a plan. Despite only being on board the ship for a couple of hours at this point, the claustrophobic nature of being deserted in space is not lost on Steve, and he's eager to get things moving. They have too many civilians on board to take this slowly, with rations no doubt diminishing as the hours pass.

However, there’s still one final question in need of answering.  
  
“Who volunteers to go with Loki?” Bruce asks.  
  
“I might as well”, Steve says before anyone else has the chance to speak up, “Would hate to have flown through time and space for nothing.”  
  
Loki looks at Steve, as if he expected this to happen. He gives a curt nod, refraining from any comments, unlike Bruce, who jumps in with the questions. “You sure? I mean, I feel like I’ve said this a hundred times at this point, but this isn’t your problem-- we could send you home, I’m sure we could…”  
  
“I want to help, Bruce, accept it”, Steve assures him and everyone else at the table, “And I have the tactical know-how. Of course this isn’t ideal, but I’ve fought my way out of worse places.”  
  
“That’s a high vouch for confidence”, Loki mutters, but it goes unnoticed by everyone else in the room as they start mulling over the details - except for Steve, who hears every syllable. He decides not to address it, but files the sound of discontent for further inspection.  
  
What follows is some fine-tuning, trying to get the details right. The final plan proceeds to look a little something like this: Steve and Loki will find a way to board the enemy ships, with Bruce engaging their command for fake negotiations of payment. Thor and Valkyrie remain on the Big Bastard to offer ground support if worse comes to worst, trying to come up with a way travel to the flotilla if Steve and Loki find themselves in the need of a helping hand. Thor isn’t exactly okay with not taking part in the action, but they manage to talk him over, and the prospect of remaining close to Bruce is a good selling point.  
  
Once aboard Steve and Loki will find a safe place to hide. When hidden, Bruce will make contact with the ship that’ll capture their attention in order to give Steve and Loki more room to work. Then, when no one’s expecting for it, Steve and Loki'll restore the energy to their ship. Once that’s done, Loki will transport the two of them back to the Big Bastard and they’ll all be on their merry way.  
  
Simple, but effective - or at least one can hope.  
  
A lot of the plan is depending on Loki, and Steve can’t say he’s exactly comfortable with the idea. He still isn’t entirely sure what's going on with the god, but so far he has been co-operative, offering information and help where needed. Loki's still rude and selfish, infuriating, and too clever for his own good, but there's also something else brewing under the surface. Steve can’t quite place it, and until he can, he’ll be watching his back as well as everyone else’s.

 

 

“You actually train with him?”  
  
“I don’t think it’s really training-- more like mutual decompressing? That ends with me beat to shit, but in a constructive way”, Bruce says, smiling. He and Steve are walking towards the cafeteria for a cup of tea, having left Loki and Thor behind to talk by themselves. Bruce had called it their bi-weekly brotherly check-up, something Thor had started doing since Sakaar. Steve can’t imagine Loki being fine with it, but kudos for Thor for trying.  
  
“How does that work?” Steve asks.  
  
“I run at him, he kicks me to ground, I get up and run at him again, I fly at a wall… You know, the usual?” Bruce chuckles. Steve lifts his eyebrows, not really believing the careless tone he’s using. Bruce seems to sense this, however. “Loki’s… I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but he’s not as bad as he was back on Earth.”  
  
“Back when he was trying to enslave the entire planet?”  
  
“Oh, I’m well aware how bad that sounds”, Bruce says and takes a deep breath, “But I think there’s something else in there. He’s not-- bad to the core? From what I’ve heard from Thor, there’s some bad stuff in there. In his past.”  
  
“Thor talks to you a lot about his and Loki’s past?” Steve asks, genuinely intrigued. He’s noticed the shift in Thor and Bruce’s relationship, and until now there hasn’t really been any opportune moments to bring it up without seeming too nosy.  
  
Bruce blushes again and scratches his nose in a sly attempt to hide his face from Steve. There’s a small smile on his face. “Yeah. We’ve gotten close.”  
  
Steve pats Bruce on the back, happy for his friends. “That’s good. It’s important to have someone to watch your back.”  
  
Steve means it, from the bottom of his heart.

It’s then that they hear steps approaching them from behind. Steve turns to look, and sees Thor and Loki walking towards them on the empty corridor. Thor waves his hand, happy, and Loki’s face is turned into a sour scowl, hands sulkily tucked into his pockets. Steve takes a note of that little detail, vowing himself to bring it up in the next time S.H.I.E.L.D. asks for his opinion for armor upgrades. Pockets, nifty.  
  
“I know what I’m doing”, Loki hisses at Thor.  
  
“I’m not claiming you don’t”, Thor says in return, “I’m just asking you to be careful!”  
  
Loki huffs out an unintelligible answer and speeds up, walking a couple steps ahead of Thor. Steve and Bruce stop, and wait for the two to reach them.  
  
“We’ll go through with this tomorrow, to give Loki some time to recover from the conjuring he did earlier”, Thor announces, much to Loki’s apparent chagrin.  
  
“I could do it today, I’m not that-”  
  
“I think it’s a good idea”, Steve jumps in, “Gives me time to… rest a little. Today’s been a lot.”  
  
Thor smiles gratefully, and Loki looks like Steve has somehow betrayed him. Now, Steve himself isn’t sure whether actual fatigue has prompted him to say it, or whether he just wants to diffuse the growing argument between the Odinsons. Whatever the case, he’s happy to leave that particular action unanalyzed. There’s no need for that.  
  
“We can leave our scanners running overnight and see if they pick up any useful information”, Bruce volunteers after a short silence has ran its course.  
  
“A comprehensive blueprint would help”, Steve says, “Leaves less room for guessing.”  
  
“Fine”, Loki says finally, “But we’ll do this tomorrow morning. We’ve been standing here on this bloody ship for long enough.”

 

 

The fact that they aren’t moving forward with their plans that evening means that Steve finds himself with nothing to do. Bruce and Thor suggest that they could play some sort of a game, but Steve declines, feeling himself too antsy to really focus on anything more complicated than hitting his fist against a target.  
  
That’s why, when Valkyrie approaches him on the main deck, she feels godsend.  
  
“You look like you’d put up a good fight.”  
  
She takes him further into the ship down a couple of levels and into a large room with nothing in it. It’s like it was meant for-  
  
“This is where Loki kicks Bruce’s ass”, Valkyrie says, sounding proud, “And where I’ll kick yours.”  
  
She is smirking, walking around the room like she owns the place, all cocksure and full of unleashed energy. Steve can’t help but to let out a laugh, finding himself excited to fight this intriguing woman.  
  
“Thor told me you’re a soldier”, Steve says, “So am I.”  
  
“So this should be pretty even ground then, huh?”  
  
“What’s your name?” Steve asks.  
  
She just looks at him, as if waiting for him to elaborate on his words.  
  
“Thor called you _a_ Valkyrie. Makes me think there’s more of you.”  
  
“There used to be. But now-” the Valkyrie gestures around herself. Steve knows what that means, having had enough of these conversations himself. Sometimes words aren’t enough to explain what’s absent, what used to be there right beside you.  
  
“So you do have a name?”  
  
“Fight me for it.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Let me see if you’ve earned it.”  
  
Steve, happy to go along with this, takes a defensive stance, and looks expectantly as Valkyrie readies herself. The glint’s still there, making her look ferocious, like a bird looking at her prey. Steve can barely contain his excitement, as the woman finally launches herself at him at full force.

 

 

What ensues is a relentless match between two veterans packed to the brim with unleashed, pent up frustration towards the world they’ve been pushed into against their will.

 

 

There’s blood dripping down Steve’s nose, forming a small puddle on the floor. His ears are still ringing faintly, reminiscent of the blows he’s just received. It’s fading quickly, alongside the bruises and sores that have bloomed all over his body. He feels great.  
  
“It’s Brunnhilde.”  
  
Steve looks at her and nods.  
  
The Valkyrie, or Brunnhilde, sits on the floor, a couple feet away from Steve, leaning against the wall. There’s a big dopey smile on her face, as she looks at Steve.  
  
“You sure you and Bruce come from the same place?” she asks. Steve takes a couple of steps and sits down next to her. They are both still breathing hard, but considering how much damage the room has gone through, they’re still in remarkably good condition. “Yeah. I’m just a more tinkered version.”  
  
“You turn into a big bulky beast, too?”  
  
Steve shakes his head, “This is all I got,” he says and pats his chest.  
  
Loki appears on the doorway. He’s looking around himself, taking in the condition of the room. The walls are blotted with depressions, as Steve and Valkyrie had hurled each other against the surfaces. Couple boxes are completely destroyed, or otherwise hurled around the room as random projectiles.  
  
“Had fun?” Loki asks, his eyes fixing on the small splotch of blood Steve has left behind.  
  
“You betcha”, Steve answers.  
  
Loki looks at him for a beat too long, a queer look in his eyes. However, before Steve has time to ask what the other was after, Loki moves on.  
  
“Wanted to get yourself beat to pulp so you could skip tomorrow?” Loki asks, directing his question at Steve. “Having second thoughts about boarding an enemy ship with me?”  
  
“Well, I wouldn’t be amiss if I were”, Steve answers and turns to look at Valkyrie, “But this was just a good old beating.”  
  
Brunnhilde gives Loki the thumbs up, leery grin on her face.  
  
“Been jealous of your little fights with Brucie”, she offers as an explanation.  
  
“You know you can join us any time”, Loki smiles, at which she makes a face. “No, I won’t be fighting you for as long as I breathe. A strict no magic policy.”  
  
“Well, your loss, I reckon”, Loki says and shrugs his shoulders.  
  
“I still don’t get how that works”, Steve wonders out loud.  
  
“Want to try it out yourself?” Loki asks. He almost looks hopeful, ready to jump at the chance.  
  
“And put myself to your magic’s mercy?”  
  
“I could just fight. No tricks or sorcery”, Loki offers, clearly excited about the idea of fighting Steve. “That’s how I fight with Bruce.”  
  
“So you’re not afraid of risking a Hulk-out?”  
  
“Bruce takes it like a champ”, Valkyrie states, “But Thor needs to stop it with the hovering.”  
  
“Oh, he’s worried you’ll hurt Bruce?” Steve asks.  
  
“No, he insists on joining”, Loki says with an air of exasperation clinging on to him. "That pestering oaf." Valkyrie cackles, clearly having witnessed this multiple times. The dynamic between the four of them is still a mystery to Steve. For reasons beyond his comprehension, all of them seem to get something out of this arrangement, maybe even enjoy it. They’re all so different, Steve can’t really imagine them having any common ground. Maybe that's the trick.  
  
“You scared he’d kick your ass?” Valkyrie asks to Loki. Loki gives her a hard look, but doesn’t say anything else. Steve can’t decide if it’s because he doesn’t want to dignify the comment with an answer or whether he agrees and thus keeps quiet.  
  
Valkyrie claps her hands together and gets up. As she’s moving, she grimaces and brings her hand to massage her lower back. “We got to do this again, soldier.”  
  
Steve gives her a lazy salute from where he’s sitting and watches her leave the room with a slight limp to her step.  
  
“Okay, I’ll leave so you can have the room to yourself”, Steve says out loud and gets up, mirroring Brunnhilde’s movements. His body’s barely feeling the abuse it had gone through only minutes earlier, but the fact that there’s still a slight stiffness feels great. A good testimony to Brunnhilde’s power.  
  
“What would I do with the room?” Loki asks and looks at Steve as if confused by his suggestion.  
  
“Wasn’t that why you came here?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Steve waits for a moment, but when Loki doesn’t offer anything else, he turns to leave. He has no idea what time it is, but he’s exhausted. The lights around the ship have now dimmed down, which makes Steve think it’s approaching night, or the approximation of it. Bruce had shown him his sleeping quarters earlier, which, in an overcrowded ship do not actually equal to an actual room. Apparently the cozy corner he’s been assigned with had been Bruce’s before the man had moved into Thor’s room. The idea of closing his eyes and falling asleep is suddenly at the top of his list of priorities.  
  
“How are you so fine with this?” Loki asks, his voice quiet. Loki’s never quiet when given the chance, so Steve perks up.  
  
He doesn’t have to guess what Loki means.  
  
“This is what I do.”  
  
“Get teleported into spaceships in trouble?”  
  
“Get pulled into situations that are bigger than me.”  
  
“That’s an awfully fatalistic way to live your life.”  
  
Steve shrugs his shoulders.  
  
“I decide to see things through. I do what I can and hope it’s enough.”  
  
Loki stares at him for a long while, the peculiar, searching look back on his face. Steve’s not sure he’s comfortable with what Loki’s looking for.  
  
“You’re an odd one, Steve Rogers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the response! hopefully you enjoyed this 💛all comments greatly appreciated
> 
> (next update should be towards the end of this week, my work's super hectic and i've a small health problem that's complete bs and limits my laptop time boooo)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you go with another update! next one will be up in a week!  
> work's extremely crazy right now as i'm working on a project that pretty much requires me to spend my evenings with it, so i'll try to keep up with the once a week updates for the final chapters, but i'm not gonna promise anything lol
> 
> thank you for reading this and giving me feedback! ❤️

Despite what is waiting for him in the morning, Steve manages to get a good night’s rest. The ship hums around him, lulling him into sleep. Sleeping on the floor like that, on the hard surface, is a weird deja-vu and something he finds himself welcoming with open arms. His bed back home has always felt too soft, never fully his own. Yet here, crammed to a corner with a borrowed blanket and a lumpy pillow of which origin Bruce told him not to think too hard about, he feels at peace, even if only for a moment. He can’t remember the last time sleep came this easy.

He wakes up when the lights come on. They start brightening gradually, and he enjoys the couple moments he gets in the faint light, before the day is set to start. There are no sleeping quarters around his area, which is why Bruce had chosen it in the first place. Steve feels calm, just lying there underneath the blankets. He can hear faint footsteps above him on the upper deck, but that seems miles away. This little cocoon is all his.

He’s not sure where today will take him, but having Loki to be the one accompanying him is not exactly lacing him with confidence. Yet, the night he’s just spent suggests that he’s not as anxious about it as he thought. Their joint efforts can culminate anywhere between astounding success and apocalypse, but Steve hopes it’ll be closer to the former. Loki’s ambivalent at best, nefarious at worst and Steve’s never dealt well with uncertainties. Maybe this will be a good exercise in believing the best in people, truly testing his limits. And who knows, maybe Loki will surprise him.

The lights above him flicker, pushing Steve away from his reverie. He gets up and folds the blankets neatly in place.

 

 

Steve arrives to the bridge, interrupting a conversation between Loki and Bruce. The two of them are standing on opposite sides of the small room, hands folded across their chests, looking pissed off. They spare small glances at Steve, but it doesn’t stop the argument.

“You don’t take this seriously.”

“I’m just as stuck on this forsaken ship as you are, Dr. Banner”, Loki says.

“Don’t Dr. Banner me, you ass! All I’m asking is that you don’t do anything stupid and get you two killed”, Bruce sounds exasperated.

“Your concern is touching, but unnecessary.” Loki looks towards Steve as he speaks. “We’ll be back in no time.”

“Steve, look after this asshole, will you?” Bruce asks, more or less fuming, and moves from his place closer to the screens mount up on the wall.

“Sure”, Steve answers, hesitating only a little. The concern Bruce shows for Loki seems displaced, but it’s not his place to dismiss it. Loki and Bruce have developed a weird connection during their time together. Steve’s not sure whether it can be called friendship but it’s better than it was before, that’s for sure.

The doors to the room open and Thor comes in, accompanied by a man Steve hasn’t seen before.

“Steve, this is Heimdall from Asgard. Heimdall, this is Steve from Midgard”, Thor makes some hurried introductions. Steve nods his head in a greeting, not sure what else to do.

“Coming to survey whether I can be trusted or not?” Loki asks the man from his perch by the wall.

“I came because Thor asked.”

“Not quite an answer, but I guess I don’t deserve one”, Loki laughs, sounding bitter to Steve’s ears.

“Loki, quit it”, Thor says as he too goes to look at the screens. “He’s here for moral support.”

“Well it’s a shame I don’t have any”, Loki says and goes to join Thor and Bruce at the back of the room. That leaves Steve and Heimdall by themselves. The other man is imposing in his physique, and like most Asgardians he is tall and muscular. Yet there is an air of gravity that he hasn’t seen in others. Certain agelessness clings to the man and his robes.

“You’re Steve Rogers”, Heimdall says and takes a couple of steps closer. “I’ve watched you.”

“Uh- yeah?”

“I used to control the Bifröst, before Loki exiled me and Asgard was destroyed”, Heimdall says, “It was my duty to observe life, and I observed yours.”

“You fought valiantly alongside Thor, and I’ve no doubt that you will succeed now.”

Steve is not sure what to do with this outpouring of trust, not really knowing what’s warranted it. Heimdall’s saying this all with a severe look on his face, and Steve can’t help but feel a bit humbled.

“Th- thank you?” Steve says.

“I know Loki hasn’t done right by your world”, Heimdall continues, “He’s not Asgard’s favoured son either.”

Heimdall’s face transforms, and there is the slightest of smiles on his lips. So small in fact, that Steve’s not sure if it’s there or if he’s hallucinating. The air around the man seems warmer, however.

“That’s probably putting it lightly”, Steve makes an attempt at a joke, but he doesn’t feel like laughing.

“Oh, it is”, Heimdall agrees. “But since the fate of this ship depends on the two of you working together-” he rests his hand on Steve’s shoulder and looks him in the eyes, “Do not fuck it up.”

Steve stand shock still for a second, but doesn’t dare to keep it up for longer and nods, sobering up.

“I’ll do my best.”

Heimdall is quiet for an unnervingly long time, measuring Steve’s words. He seems to find what he’s looking for and finds it to his liking, as he lifts off his hand and nods.

“I may be retired, but I observe as keenly as ever. Loki goes through life pretending it doesn’t move him, that he moves it, but don’t let that fool you. He’s a master of illusion, so if you can look past that--”

“You ready Steve?” Bruce asks across the room, interrupting the conversation. Heimdall stops short, and gestures Steve to join the others. “Good luck.”

“Yeah”, Steve quips. He walks to the others.

“I think we’ve managed to pick up a suitable ship”, Bruce says, “It’s heat signature suggests it’s less crowded, and it's towards the back of the flotilla. See, its security systems are useless as it's not geared towards fight. Easy to board. Loki’ll teleport you to what we think is the hangar bay, this empty space here, see? And you’ll go from there. The bridge is not too far from there.”

“We’ll be maintaining contact with these little devices”, Thor supplies, picking up a couple of earbuds that rest on the console. “We’ll be able to direct you from here. The blueprint we gathered last night is not the most comprehensive, but it’ll do.”

“Okay, sounds like we’re ready to move”, Steve says and looks at Loki.

“Off we go, soldier”. Loki does a mock salute.

 

 

Now there is a saying that Tony has uttered more than enough times for Steve to have observed its message pretty thoroughly. The exact wording of it’s still lost on him, but it’s something along the lines of “men plan and god laughs”, which, in all intents and purposes has proved itself correct time and time again. So this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but how can it be, that when it's literal gods making the plans, they still end up a laughing stock.  
  
_“Go left, go left, go left!”_  
  
“There’s nothing to our left!”  
  
_“Well right then!”_ Bruce shouts in his ear. Steve turns to look at Loki who’s trying to cave in the hallway they’re on. Alarms are shouting all around them, filling the air with shrill beeps.  
  
“Give me a moment”, Loki says. He’s currently trying to use his magic to rip some of the plating and pipes down from the ceiling, but he seems to be in trouble. There’s a group of armed mercenaries approaching them, so Loki’s running out of time. Steve’s just about to go and drag the god out of here, when the pristine white plating comes crashing down. Loki looks perplexed, but runs to Steve. “That should give us time.”  
  
Loki proceeds to grab Steve by the elbow, and drags him away from the destruction.  
  
_“ **Now** turn left!”_ Bruce shouts once again, but this time there’s actually a door there, so Steve and Loki pass through. They sigh in relief as the door closes behind them. The alarms are still going, now accompanied by ominously red lights that cover the walls in a steady rhythm.  
  
_“So they do know you’re on board”,_ Thor’s voice chimes in.  
  
“An astute observation, brother”, Loki says, voice dripping with venom. Steve can’t really bring himself to disagree with the tone, having just ran from what could only be described as a deep space paramilitary task force jacked to all hell. They need to get moving, now.  
  
_“It’s not a problem, we’ll just have to improvise”_ , Bruce says. Loki mouths Bruce’s words with a frown on his face, accompanied with an appropriate eye roll. He and Steve actually share a moment of shared chagrin. “Easy for you to say”, Loki mutters.

 _“What was that?”_ Bruce asks from his no doubt cozy seat in the bridge of the Big Bastard.

“Nothing”, Steve and Loki say simultaneously.

 _“You have to find a place to hide”_ , Brunnhilde’s voice crackles in their ears.

“I think it’s a bit difficult to hide in a ship that already knows you’re in”, Loki spits out, “There’re only so many bloody closets we can cram ourselves into. I thought you said this was an unmanned ship!”

 _“Never said it’s unmanned, just that it has less people on board than the others! Not my fault the shields are making this unpredictable.”_ Bruce sounds as frustrated as Steve feels.

“Let’s at least move before they figure their way around that cave-in”, Loki says and gives an anxious glance towards the door that’s behind them.

“Since our cover’s blown we could try fighting our way to the brig and run away with the energy”, Steve suggests.

“I guess at this point it doesn’t really matter how we go about this”, Loki agrees and Bruce lets out a litany of swear words on the other end of the comms.

_“Are you two idiots aware that the bridge will be crazy armed now that they’ve been alerted of you?”_

“They’re crazy armed no matter where we go”, Steve says and grabs a shield form his back. It’s not his, the real deal enjoying a cozy evening in Washington, but it’ll do. Just like the armor Brunnhilde had dug for him from somewhere in the ship.

_“Fine. Go ahead. Get yourselves killed.”_

_“Now that’s a bit dramatic, Bruce”_ , Thor comments.

 _“It’s your dead brother, not mine”_ , Bruce answers.

“Okay, which way do we go?” Steve tries to alleviate the situation and push it towards action. Standing still on an open hallway is not going to help any of them.

 _“Mmm”_ , Valkyrie’s staticky voice rattles in Steve’s ear, _“Keep going straight for now.”_

Loki follows the instructions and starts walking. Steve’s only little behind. Then, all of a sudden, the red lights disappear and the hallways are restored with an eerie white glow. The alarm shouts for few more rounds, and then it too disappears, leaving Steve and Loki standing in utter silence. This doesn't feel good.

“Is there any way to tell what’s ahead?” Steve asks tentatively, not liking how deserted the ship suddenly seems, when only a moment ago it was bustling with armed mercenaries. He’d like at least an enemy heads-count if he was to organize an impromptu siege.

 _“Not really. Our heat sensors aren’t working as great as we thought”_ , Thor says. It's probably the goddamn security shield surrounding the ship, making everything more difficult than initially thought. An unknown variable, for sure.

“Brilliant”, Steve says, voice sharp and clear. “Let’s hope for the best then.”

Loki looks at him like he’s lost his mind, and Steve flashes him with a brilliant smile.

They continue walking in silence. Steve goes to the front, and tries to give them at least an air of stealth. They don’t come across anyone, which is more than little concerning, but Steve suppresses it to the back of his mind. He’ll deal with this when it becomes relevant. For now, all he wants to do is get to the cockpit and transfer the energy to the Big Bastard. They’ll go from there.

They arrive to a corridor that’s wider than the previous ones, and there’s still no one around. Steve takes a tentative step forward, looking at Loki for any input.

“This isn’t ominous in the least”, Loki says.

“Maybe this is just a cargo ship, meaning there aren’t any crew on board?”

“And the mob we ran into was just a product of our active imagination?” Loki asks. They both look forward, towards the door that’s confusingly the only thing between them and the bridge.

“Shall we?” Steve asks.

Loki nods.

They start walking. With every step Steve’s feeling the foreboding sense of doom, but he’s not about to turn back. Behind that door is their ticket out of this nasty little pocket of space.

They reach the door and Steve leans forward to press the button that'll hopefully let them in. There's a small hiss coming from the seams, and the door opens.

“Well, this is anticlimactic”, Loki states, voice flat.

The bridge is empty. There is no one there.

“Did they evacuate? Because of us?” Steve asks. “Hey, Bruce. The bridge is deserted.”

_“That sounds interesting. Maybe that’s why we don’t catch any heat signatures.”_

_“What about that gang that hunted you for sport just like, a second ago?”_ Valkyrie’s voice comes through.

“It is alarming”, Loki says and walks in, looking around.

“Maybe they’re regrouping somewhere”, Steve suggests and follows Loki.

“Whatever they’re doing, we might as well use this time to our advantage”, Loki says and walks to one of the consoles, fingers instantly starting to tap against the keyboard with a practiced ease. He gestures Steve to come closer and then tells him to man the other screen.

“I don’t know what to do with this”, Steve says, bewildered. Steve is pretty good with computers, he love his laptop, but he isn’t about to go messing up with alien technology when it isn’t just his life that depends on it.

“Fine, stand around being useless then, while I rescue us single-handedly”, Loki mutters, eyes never leaving the screen.

“I’ll keep watch”, Steve says, knowing better than to come up with a stroppy retort.

Steve goes to take a stroll around the bridge, giving the place a cursory search. What he assumes to be the captain’s chair is in the middle of the room, facing against the large windows to space. There's nothing ahead, just the glimmering stars. The bridge reminds him of the Star Trek films he’s been watching with Clint - couple stations here and there, unmanned of course. Some of the screens are still running data, not that Steve understands anything of the hieroglyphics on the screen.

The closer he looks around himself, the clearer it becomes that the bridge has been left in a hurry. There are unfinished notes on some of the desks, open files on the screens, and a mug of some warm brew is still sitting on one of the counters, warm to the touch.

“Almost done”, Loki says from where he’s still tapping furiously.

Steve doesn’t hear it, as he turns to look in front of him. It’s just space. Black. Vast.

“Loki”, Steve quips, not taking his eyes away from the void. “Whereabouts in the flotilla is this ship situated?”

“Bruce said it's somewhere close to the back”, Loki answers.

"So we should be able to see the other ships?"

"Yes. Why?"

“There’s nothing ahead of us."

“Hm?”

“There are no other ships", Steve says and he swallows nervously. There's something caught in his throat, and he tries to cough it out. The feeling of unease doesn't disappear. Instead it grows, and suddenly he's feeling a lot more claustrophobic than he ever did on the Big B.

The clicking of the keyboard stops, as Loki turns to look through the windows.

“This is not good.”

“Bruce, Bruce you hearing this?”

There's no answer. Steve finally turns away from the window and sees Loki looking at him, expressionless. “This is not good”, Steve repeats Loki’s words.

“I- I’ll finish the transfer--” Loki doesn’t finish the sentence and starts typing twice as fast. “Couple minutes. Then we’ll get out of here as fast as we can.”

Steve tries to contact Bruce for couple more times, but he's greeted by silence every single time. Something's messing with their communications signal.

It takes couple of strides for him to reach Loki. Once he does he starts looking at the other screens around Loki, trying to make sense of them. The language is still unintelligible, but there are graphics and other cues to go by. Like the one screen that looks like some sort of a navigational device. There’s only one dot on it, and it doesn’t take Steve long to realise what it means.

"Okay. I've compressed all the energy to a cell that we can gather from near the engine systems, and then we'll run", Loki says and straightens up, rolling his shoulders a couple of times. Steve gestures him to take a look at the navigation screen.

“I think there’s no one around.”

Loki seems to regard the screen for a moment, eyes scanning over it, and reading the other screens - so he understands this chicken scratch, that’s good - and then he turns towards the windows once more. He takes a deep sigh and Steve's sure he won't like what Loki'll say next. He braces himself.

“They’ve teleported us.”

“Where?"

"I can't say."

"Is it far?"

"Undoubtedly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did someone say bottle episode woohooooooo


	4. Chapter 4

“Seen anyone?”

Steve runs into Loki in the main corridor three hours in to their forced isolation. Loki shakes his head in answer to Steve’s question and Steve's not surprised. 

“The ship’s completely empty except for us two”, Loki says, and Steve shares his sense of resignation.

Upon realising what had happened, the two of them had agreed to thoroughly search the ship in order to find anything that would clue them in on what’s happening. Loki had deduced that the G’ats had somehow found a way to launch them lightspeed through space, ad Steve decided to believe him this time, having no clue himself. With the help of the ship's computers they’d tried to backtrack their journey for clues as to where they’d ended up in to no avail. It became clear that the ship had been wiped clean of pretty much everything, including the environmental control programs as well as just any information stored on the ship. They were running on fumes, with the energy reserves diminishing every minute they spent on board. 

“Did _you_ come across anything useful?” Loki asks in turn.

“There’s some food in the cafeteria, but most of the fridges are powering down. In couple days we’ll only have the canned stuff left.”

Steve admits that their future on this ship doesn’t look bright, not that his entire stint into space has so far been nothing short of chaotic.

“Maybe we should head there. Can't afford to waste anything.”

Steve leads Loki to the cafeteria that’s mottled with dozen tables and a buffet counter that seems oddly misplaced. The steel grey surfaces of the tables are juxtaposed with the same clinically white tiles that cover the entire ship, making the room look more like a surgery than a rec room. Out of the seven fridges only three are running anymore, humming slowly in the back of the room. 

“This will do”, Loki says as he picks up a close approximation of a vegetable. It's green, covered in yellow spots and-- is that hair? Loki gives the fruit a tentative sniff and seems to find it edible as he grabs couple more. Steve follows his lead, and collects himself a meal from the stuff that doesn't look too threatening. He’s quite hungry himself, not having met his daily calorie intake for a few days now.

When Steve turns around with his pile of food, he finds that Loki’s settling down on one of the tables and he’s hit with weird trepidation. Going over there and sitting next to Loki seems like the logical thing to do, they’re the only two there. The situation faintly reminds him of the mess politics back in the army, looking at the fidgety recruits trying to find a place to sit amongst their rowdy crowd.

Loki turns to look at him like he’s stupid for standing there, and hey, maybe he is.

He sits down opposite of Loki and bites down to something that’s eerily similar to a burrito. 

“So, what do you think?” Steve says mouth full of food. Loki makes a point to swallow whatever it is he’s eating and tosses the core of the fruit somewhere on the floor over Steve’s shoulder.

“We’ll have maybe a week until this ship runs completely out of air and we’ll both face horrible deaths”, Loki says, “If we don’t kill each other before that.”

“You think that’s likely?” Steve asks.

“We’re known to disagree on a couple of things.”

“And disagreement is enough to drive us to kill each other?”

“Isn’t it?”

Steve stays quiet and Loki doesn’t say anything either, but picks a foil wrapper from Steve’s pile of food. “I guess we’ll see”, Loki says and opens the wrapper and takes a hesitant bite at the corner. The simple action sets something loose in Steve, and he slumps against the chair, feeling somehow relieved.

“You’re so dramatic”, Steve sighs in defeat. Loki laughs, the sound bubbling out of him unexpectedly.

“Runs in the family”, Loki smirks, his eyes glinting under the ship’s stark lights.

“Oh, I believe that”, Steve says and he feels the world tilt on its axis.

 

 

During their impromptu lunch Loki tells about his plans for trying to find a way around the data gridlock they’re currently in. It’s apparently something he can do with his magic, and Steve’s not about to stop him. Instead, he decides to be useful as well and goes to pick up the compressed power cell with the help of Loki’s instructions.

It’s a small thing that fits right on his palm. It vibrates with such potency, that Steve can't help but be in awe. It doesn’t escape him that this is their ticket out of here, if they ever get back to the Big Bastard. The line of thought makes him think of Bruce and Thor, and Steve wonders whether they're worried about their disappearance. Are they looking for them? He hopes so.

Steve’s just about to return back to the cafeteria and rummage the powered down fridges for some more hidden treasures, when the lights around him shut down. It’s alarming as this shouldn’t be happening yet. Loki had said that they still had at least ten more days before the ship completely shuts down.

Before Steve has time to act, the lights come back on.

Steve frowns.

The cafeteria is pushed out of his mind, as he decides to go see what Loki’s up to. Steve heads towards the bridge, as that's where Loki had gone when they separated. He’s pretty familiar with the ship’s layout after hours of rummaging around, and it doesn’t take him long to see those double doors again.

He’s not sure what to expect, but it’s not Loki on his knees, bent over and gasping for breath.

Steve doesn’t really think when he runs over to Loki and kneels besides him, hand immediately going to rest on his shoulder and hopefully offering support. “Loki? Loki, what happened?”

Loki tries to answer, but the breath keeps getting stuck in his throat, stopping the flow of words. Steve moves his hand back and forth, caressing his back and offering contact. He’s not sure if it is what Loki’s after, but Steve himself has found this comforting whenever he’s been in the throes of his crippling anxiety attacks. It's supposed to be grounding, and maybe that's what Loki needs.

Loki doesn't push him away.

Steve feels unable to do much else and he starts to gently talk to Loki, trying to get him through whatever this is. Once Loki’s breath starts to even out, Steve takes a step back and allows him more space, not knowing how his actions would be received.

“That was… Unexpected”, Loki says and he sounds breathless, having to concentrate on every syllable.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll live, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No. I’m asking if you’re okay”, Steve insists. He doesn’t know when Loki’s wellbeing became his concern. Loki seems to wonder the same thing, as he moves himself to a sitting position, not quite believing what Steve’s saying.

“I’m fine”, Loki answers and Steve nods. He doubts Loki feels right as rain, judging by the way his body quivers and how laborious his breathing still is. Steve is not about to point this out, however.

“What happened?”

“After I saw that there was nothing to be recovered from the ship itself, I tried reaching outwards”, Loki says. There’s a troubled look settling on his brows, a slight frown marring his face. “But, I think we must be too far from anything of note, as I couldn’t sense a thing.”

“The Big Bastard’s nowhere near?”

“No. And neither is anything else.”

Steve gets up and offers his hand for Loki out of habit. Loki regards his hand like it shouldn’t be there, but grasps it anyhow. Steve hoists Loki on his feet and they suddenly find themselves standing extremely close. Steve feels Loki’s breath on his cheek, and a shiver runs through him.

“I’ll try again, later”, Loki says and steps back.

“You sure? Didn’t seem that great just now.”

“If you have any other suggestions, do tell.”

“We still have the power cell, we could use it. We’re bound to turn somewhere after a while.” Steve digs the cell out of his pocket and shows it to Loki, who regards it with interest. For a moment it looks like Loki’s about to pick it up himself, but decides against it at the last minute.

“You really don’t understand how space works, do you?” Loki asks. “The possibilities are endless, and it’s more than likely we’d just find ourselves drifting for a millennia...”

“We could equip the distress signals, I guess”, Steve thinks out loud. “It’ll use extra power, but the chances of someone locking in on it is too good to pass by. I refuse to just stand here for days waiting for certain death.”

“Of course you do”, Loki retorts. However, he does agree to the use of the distress signals. “Even if we make contact with a hostile ship, that’s still better than the alternative.”

 

 

Hours tick by and Steve finds there is very little to do on board. The mercenaries seem to have left with all the interesting stuff, leaving Steve with nothing to do. He’s considered building an impromptu gym but it didn’t seem wise to start hitting things randomly on board, not he isn't sure what’s vital and what’s expendable. That’s why he’s currently sitting on the captain’s seat in the bridge, staring at the screen in front of him, trying to will a dot to appear on the navigation radar. A dot would mean they weren't alone in this empty pocket of space.

Just sitting there is making him restless, however. His pent-up energy has nowhere to go. His leg is popping up and down. His hand is ticking against the armrest. His jaw is clenched so tight it might pop out of its place.

“Stop it. You’re being annoying.”

He turns around to see Loki standing behind him. He must’ve just entered the room. He looks better than he did a couple hours ago, when he’d excused himself and gone to rest. Steve had taken that as a glaring sign that something was not right. Open vulnerability wasn't Loki's forte.

“I don’t do well in confined spaces."

Loki sits on the chair to Steve’s right, allowing Steve to get a better look at him. He seems calm. There are no nervous ticks for Steve to spot, nor anything else that would scream of discomfort. It seems like he’s had some training in this, indefinite waiting. That sets something uneasy loose in Steve’s gut, but he ignores it the best he can.

“Reckon it has something to do with being buried in a plane in ice for 70 years”, Steve says, looking for a reaction.

“Possibly”, Loki says, matching Steve’s stare, “Or your unnecessarily hulking frame is just bothersome.”

Steve laughs out loud, surprised. Steve throws his legs over the armrests, facing Loki. His fingers continue the tapping, and Loki gives them a pointed stare. Steve stops.

“Finally”, Loki remarks, “I can breathe again.”

“Not a fan of being locked up either?”

“I don’t think anyone is”, Loki evades the question and Steve decides to let it pass.

“Shouldn’t this all be a piece of cake to you and Thor? You’re gods after all”, Steve asks. It's something he thought about as he'd been glaring at the screen. Gods were almighty beings, some space kerfuffle shouldn't be this big of a deal, surely.

“Naming us gods was your fault”, Loki answers. Steve looks at him, the lean bend on his back and the tension in his shoulders. Loki is looking at Steve in turn, but this time it’s with open curiosity, with nothing hostile simmering underneath.

“Well you sure as hell paraded yourself around like one.”

“Never said I didn’t enjoy being a deity”, Loki says, a smirk appearing on his face. Steve can almost hear it in his voice, the unrestrained glee. “So much power for so little. Couple spells here and there, and soon enough I had sacrifices made in my name.”

Steve hums, easily conjuring up an image of Loki in all his Norse splendour. It must’ve been a sight to behold in the Nordic woods, Loki standing on the mossy ground amongst the trees, mist circling his lean frame as crows cawed overhea--

“You’re somewhat of a god yourself, are you not?” Loki asks, stopping Steve's rather detailed daydreams in their tracks. The question catches Steve off guard, and he laughs at the absurdity of it. “No. No, sheesh. I'm just a science experiment, nothing more.”

“But you fit your people’s gospel so well. You died for their sake, rose from the dead. Your powers are unparalleled among your kind...” Loki muses out loud.

“My powers are from scientists, they don’t see me like that.”

“So nothing man-made can be divine?” Loki scoffs, “Your species doesn’t hold itself in high regard, does it?”

Steve doesn’t know what to answer, Loki having left him speechless yet again. He is pretty good at it, twisting your words into shapes that you won’t recognise anymore. Loki’s way with words is an astonishing feat to witness, especially when he’s not using them for inciting a colossal tragedy. 

“See, now that you say it like that”, Steve groans, turning his eyes towards the ceiling.

“You’re so easy to rile up”, Loki comments. “Almost as fun as my brother, although his tells are easier to spot.”

“Oh, I’m unreadable?”

“Not at all, quite the opposite. You just don’t summon lightning at the slightest inconvenience.”

“Then what do I do?” Steve asks. Loki lifts his eyebrow as if to ask if Steve really wants to know and hell, Steve’s game. This is turning out to be an interesting conversation, and for whatever reason he wants to keep it going for as long as possible.

“Oh, you just seethe patriotic disappointment. Your brows do this”, and at this point Loki frowns, illustrating his point. “Also you seem so confused-- Just like that!” Loki points at Steve’s face, grinning. Steve feels a flush creeping up his neck, and he tries to laugh it off.

“That only proves that you’ve looked at me a lot”, Steve points out. That in turn seems to set something loose in Loki, as he -- no, he doesn’t blush, necessarily, but comes awfully close.

“You’ve been such a thorn in my side, I've had to keep my eye on you.”

“Mhmm”, Steve hums.

The conversation continues, amicably flowing between inane topics. Steve finds out that Loki is an avid reader, and has actually read some Earth novels, some even Steve has read himself. What makes that particular discovery even more surprising, is the fact Loki doesn’t seem to have anything negative to say about them. They go back and forth, Loki picks Steve’s brain about his time in the 1930s New York, Steve asks questions about Asgard. Time loses all meaning, but Steve doesn’t mind it, quite the opposite. Loki proves out to be good company when he isn’t actively hostile. Downright pleasant, even.

 

 

It’s the next day, or at least Steve thinks so. He slept for a surprising ten hours in one of the bunk beds left behind by the G’ats. He and Loki each have commandeered rooms from the hallway where most of the crew cabins are situated. They both have their own separate rooms, thankfully. 

Steve finds Loki in the cafeteria, as he heads there for breakfast. Loki informs him that two of the fridges have powered down during the night, but there are still few edible things in there.

“Just smell them beforehand”, Loki offers as an helpful tip. Steve nods and starts scavenging food. He’s going to stay away from the canned stuff for as long as possible. The 21st Century has spoiled his taste buds. Back in the 40s this would all have been a feats, but now? Now Steve knows better.

“Got big plans for today?” Steve asks as he settles down opposite of Loki. Loki huffs, mouth full of food. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty busy. Thinking about having a nap. Maybe stare off into space for an hour or two...” Steve continues, smiling as he talks. Loki looks amused, which makes Steve’s chest flutter.

“Unlike you, I do plan on doing something to help us”, Loki says, “I’m going to reach out again.”

“That didn’t go so well last time”, Steve frowns, and the fluttery lightness behind his ribcage turns into a heavier lump. Loki just shrugs his shoulders.

“I'm not going to stay idle.”

“Do you want me to be there? In case something goes wrong?” Steve offers himself. He doesn’t like the idea of Loki doing this alone, the images of his distressed breathing and shivering body still fresh in Steve’s mind.

“Do what you wish, I don’t see how you could possibly help”, Loki answers. It’s not an outright no, and Steve grabs on to it immediately. The cold lights above them on the cafeteria ceiling are making Loki’s face seem more angled than it is. There are heavy shadows under his eyes and cheekbones, giving the god a tired look. Maybe there’s a possibility that Loki’s hesitant. If that’s the case, Steve will have his back.

“It’s a better alternative to walking in a circle in the cargo bay”, Steve says. He tries to make himself sound unaffected, not wanting to crowd Loki too much. Yet Loki seems to see right through him yet again, but instead of a refusal, there’s a look of gratitude on his face.

 

 

It’s weird.

Steve sits on a chair, with his back against the windows that lead off into space, and he’s looking at Loki. At Loki, who has his eyes closed and who has sat on the floor, unmoving, for the better part of a hour. Apart from couple twitches of his eyebrows, and a scrunching of his nose, there has been no signs that Loki’s even awake.

It turns out that there’s an unexpected side effect to monitoring Loki, however.

Steve has a lot of time to look at him.

He doesn’t realise he’s doing it at first. It starts gradually, as Steve’s cataloguing Loki’s features, taking in the restful look on his face. The slight downturn of his lips, the long eyelashes resting against his cheeks, and the jet black hair faintly curling around to frame his face. Yet as soon as his eyes travel to Loki’s lips, Steve catches on to himself. He jolts in his seat, as if shocked, and turns his head away. The ceiling appears suddenly interesting, the white tiles burning his retinas.

He’s not sure whether to file his recent behaviour under cabin fever, or whether it’s a collection of the lingering effects to all the trauma he’s faced, but the way Loki’s managed to work his way into Steve’s… _good graces_ , is odd. He’s not sure how it has happened, or why, but the idea of Loki has become clearer and more approachable in his mind. The visible changes to his person, Loki’s rapport with Bruce, his begrudging acceptance of Thor - it all adds up to a Loki that. Steve. Likes?

He shakes his head, turning his head away from the ceiling. Loki has no clue about this inner turmoil taking place inside Steve’s head, and Steve would like to keep it that way.

Luckily Loki's eyes still closed to the world. Steve wonders whether Loki is actually here, in this room, or somewhere far away. Were Steve to speak, would Loki be able to hear and respond?

Steve’s stuck in his reverie, and he doesn’t notice how the look on Loki’s face changes. His eyebrows draw together and the frown deepens, and his breathing becomes more shallow. It isn’t until Loki lets out an audible hiss, that Steve turns his gaze back on him.

“Loki?” Steve asks tentatively, not sure whether he should be alarmed or not. There’s no answer, however, so Steve leaves his cozy seat and walks closer, crouching couple steps away from Loki.

The look grows more distressed, and the god’s breathing is becoming raspier and more hurried. Steve lifts his hand, but it hovers in the air, caught in his inability to act. Loki’s mouth opens slightly, and the breathing becomes more laborious. The tension in Loki’s shoulders grows more intense, and when they start shaking, Steve can’t just stand by any longer.

“Loki? Come back to me, Loki”, Steve says silently, using his left hand to grab Loki’s shoulder. His firm grasp manages to subdue some of the shaking, but other than that there isn’t any notable change.

“Loki, come on, step out of it”, Steve keeps talking. He gives Loki a more substantial shake and that does seem to do the trick and Loki’s eyes open.

Except-- they aren’t Loki’s eyes that stare back at him.

Steve’s not sure about what he’s seeing. They are Loki’s eyes, but at the same time they are unrecognisable. They stare straight at Steve, yet somehow, simultaneously, Steve has a feeling that they’re completely elsewhere. The eyes are seeing something that’s beyond him.

Loki has gone still. He’s barely breathing now.

“Loki”, Steve says for the third time, but now it’s a whisper. He squeezes Loki's shoulder gently, trying to gently coax him back into this room. His physical body’s there, sure, but the god himself is somewhere far away, somewhere where Steve has no business into.

At Steve’s words Loki collapses. His eyes close yet again, but this time he goes completely limp. Steve catches him before he has time to hit the floor, and awkwardly cradles Loki to his chest. He sets Loki down, laying him on the floor. Loki’s breathing now, steady and even. Steve tries for a pulse, and is greeted by a regular heartbeat.

It seems like everything’s fine for now, but he feels uneasy. He needs Loki to wake up, and tell him everything is okay.

Steve sits down next to Loki’s prone body. There's really nothing he can do but to keep watch, and make sure Loki doesn't wake up alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my updating schedule is not really a schedule at all now that i have my Big Work Project but do not fear, there're still probably two chapters on their way if not more and since i crave immediate feedback i'll work as fast as i can
> 
> see, the work thing won't be done for at least a couple months so i can get my sweet validation high here
> 
> thank you so much for reading and please do leave some comments if you feel inclined to, they make me EXTREMELY happy 💕❤️✨


	5. Chapter 5

Loki doesn’t wake up.

Steve stares at one of the lamps on the ceiling, seeing the light flicker in and out of existence. For a moment it looks like it will stay shut down for good, but after Steve sends it a particularly mean glare, the light flickers back on. Steve finds this oddly comforting, because for a moment there he was about to take the abandonment personally. His company isn't that bad.

“Hey, if you’re doing this to grind my gears, it’s working”, Steve quips to Loki, who’s still prone on the floor, now with a comfortable pillow supporting his head. There hasn’t been any movement except for the steady breathing, making Loki’s chest rise up, and down, rise up, and down, rise up -- Steve shakes his head.

It’s been what feels like days but is possibly just hours, since Loki fell over like a rag doll. At first Steve had tried everything he could, involving a couple well-calculated slaps to the face and persistent shaking, but Loki kept quiet. When it became clear that the god would wake up when he himself was ready for it, Steve had decided to make both of their stay in the bridge as comfortable as he could. He’d gathered some pillows and duvets from the abandoned sleeping quarters, then made a detour through the kitchens to get some water and food, before making camp next to Loki on the floor. He had to keep watch, just in case something came up.

Steve tries not to worry too much. His guts are twisting and turning, his brain conjuring some horrible images about Loki and what’s going on with him, but Steve refuses to give in. He’ll be fine, he’s just taking a little rest. That’s what Steve keeps telling himself, it’s like a mantra that’s just circling in his head to the set rhythm of Loki’s breathing. He’ll be fine, he’ll be okay, he’ll be fine, he’ll be okay.

“Feel like waking up yet?” Steve asks, not really expecting an answer. It’s just something he does to keep himself from jumping on the walls.

“Anytime now would be good, if you’re up for it.”

Still nothing.

Steve lets his head bend backwards, and it makes contact with the wall behind him. He brings his hand down to his chin, scratching the itch that the rapidly growing beard is causing. This is why he’d normally shave every day. It’s agonizing. He feels like crawling out of his skin.

“Hey asshole!” Steve bellows.

Nothing.

 

Steve’s afraid to leave Loki’s side for longer than he has to. Part of him is afraid that he’ll return to find him midst a terrible seizure, or worse, unmoving and cold to the touch. So Steve stays on the bridge, looking towards the vast emptiness ahead of him. He cannot make his mind about the prominent windows - for one, it’s good to have some visual presentation of what’s going on outside the ship, but at the same time it’s pretty demoralising to witness their isolation every time he decides to look that way.

The irony of his situation doesn’t escape him. This is the second time he’s on a ship, stuck in stasis. Last time he’d been unaware of the time passing him by, and he’d cursed it upon waking, but now? He wouldn’t mind falling unconscious next to Loki and just wait for this to blow over.

Steve huffed at himself.

“You’re bad influence,” Steve says to Loki’s deaf ears. “I’m becoming as dramatic as you. Almost.”

Loki stays still, but Steve can’t turn his gaze away. He regulates his own breathing to match Loki’s. They’re breathing in tandem, and a sense of calm settles in Steve’s bones, albeit temporary.

 

Time’s really relative when you’re stuck in a stationary spaceship with no means of communicating with _anyone_. Steve’s sad that he’s the one making the realisation, but someone’s got to. If he can’t be back in Washington saving its citizens from themselves, he can contribute to important research through his own empirical studies.

In short, he’s losing his mind.

Actually, Steve’s so beyond help at this point, that he’s decided to do an impromptu fitness circuit right there in the bridge. He’s jumping up and down, sweating bullets as he goes from a squat to a plank and jumps back up again. He's made it his mission to reach the ceiling. It's an inch away, if he just jumps a little higher...

There’s the familiar rush of blood singing in his ears, and he revels at the way his heart is beating in his chest. It’s not out of fear, for once. He's sweating, feeling it drip down his back as his muscles quiver under the strain. He squats down, and pounces back up, reaching his fingers high over his body. There. He manages to graze the ceiling. Steve grins to himself, and lets out a short shout of excitement.

“Have you lost your mind?”

Steve’s not sure he’s hearing right, so after the next jump up he looks towards Loki’s prone body. Except now he appears to be sitting up, completely lucid and looking at Steve with a frown.

“You’re awake?”

“I would hope that to be quite obvious”, Loki says. “For your sake.”

 

Loki’s ravenous after waking up. He devours Steve’s little stash of perishables, and then beelines to the kitchens, refusing to talk about anything until he "doesn't feel like an empty ravine anymore". Steve’s happy to oblige, gladly just sitting back and watching Loki’s animated movements.

“You were gone for quite a long time”, Steve says, when Loki finally brings a napkin to his mouth.

“It’s to be expected. When I over-exert my powers like that--”

“You could’ve given me a heads-up”, Steve continues, pressing on. "If you knew that was going to happen." The intense relief that hit his face like a forceful slap after seeing Loki awake, is now subsiding a little, making room for the remnants of the anxiety he had gone through.

"Did you worry?" Loki asks, a slight mock in his tone. Steve's not having any of this, though.

"Yes. In fact I did."

“Oh", Loki looks apologetic, which brings forth a wave of warmth over Steve’s body. "Well, I would've if I'd known how difficult that was going to be."

“What happened, then?” Steve asks. “Last time wasn’t this bad.”

“No, it wasn’t”, Loki nods, crossing his hands together over. “Because I did something different.”

Steve wants to bombard Loki with questions, but wills himself to stay quiet. He knows crowding up on Loki will not get him the answers he needs - the god will tell him everything he needs to know in his own time. Steve’s taken back by this sudden unwavering trust towards Loki. The god is not exactly known for volunteering information, but something in Steve knows they’re in this together.

“Instead of reaching out like last time, I decided to try to place us. I looked for any tethers, any significant source of energy that could help me locate us.”

This is where Loki goes quiet, a perplexed look taking over his features.

“But there wasn’t anything out there”, Loki continues, his voice rising up in frustration, “Nothing at all.”

“So we’re so far away fro-” Steve doesn’t get a chance to finish, before Loki stands up, the chair scraping the cafeteria floor. “No, Steve. If we were simply in an uncharted area, I could use remnants or faint echoes of past or future _existence,_  stars that are yet to be born or have already ceased existing _,_ but-- We’re nowhere.”

Loki turns on his heels and marches back towards one of the cupboards, crouching down to rummage through its insides. That's where all the sweet stuff is, so Loki must be stressed. Steve stays put, mind boggled over the fact that he can suddenly read Loki.

“What do you mean nowhere?”

“We don’t exist anywhere that I know of, which encompasses pretty much the entirety of the nine realms”, Loki explains as he emerges from the cupboard clutching a bag of chocolate-like crisps to his chest. “All this”, he gestures at them and the ship around them,”is nowhere.”

“How is that possible? I’m here, you’re here, as far as I’m aware we’re both alive and-- relatively well.” Steve gets up, and walks towards Loki. He comes to stand in front of him, and lays a hand on his arm. Loki looks at Steve, then the arm, but doesn’t brush him away. Maybe they both need the contact to be there to remind them that they’re there, and nowhere else.

“You can live yet not exist”, Loki says in his cryptic manner, and his eyes darken. Steve finds his arm tightening as a reflex, and Loki’s eyes bore into his. They’re close.

“You seem present to me”, Steve says, voice lowering down to an almost whisper. Without an ounce of forethought he lifts up his hand, and uses it to tuck couple stray strands of hair away from Loki’s face. Steve forgets to be mortified by this action, as Loki’s eyes clear up and his cheeks flush faintly.

“Uh”, Loki stammers and Steve will find time to relish that later, “I need to conduct a couple more tests once I… rest, a little”, Loki says and dislodges himself from Steve. “I have some working theories right now, but, I’d rather be sure…” Loki keeps walking towards the exit, and Steve watches him go. “I’ll catch some sleep, see you later”, Loki’s final words ring as Steve can no longer see him.

This is an interesting development.

 

The shower feels heavenly.

Steve lets out a sigh that’s been building up inside of him ever since Loki fell on the floor. Now that he’s back to being awake, Steve finally feels mobile. He’s no longer tied to Loki’s side in a self-imposed confinement in the bridge, and he’s free to do other things. Like take a shower.

Steve washes off suds of soap from his hair, relishing the jet hot stream coming in contact with this skin. This is an indulgence, that’s for sure, but Steve feels like it he deserves it. That’s actually something he’s been working with his therapist - making time for things he wants. Saying out loud the things he wants. And this shower is certainly is something he can't do without. The hot water is eating up their limited energy reserves, but Steve’d rather die well-showered than the crusty mess he’d been moments earlier.

As the final remnants of soap wash away, Steve allows himself to revel in the water for one more second before turning it off. The communal showers quieten down, and Steve grabs his towel from where he’d thrown it before diving in.

“I see we both had the same thought”, Loki says, a sheepish look on his face.

“It’s all yours, I’m done”, Steve says and steps out of the cubicle, fastening the towel to his waist. When he approaches Loki to walk past him, to get back to his own room to redress, he notices the god taking a step back. Interesting.

Steve turns to look at Loki’s face and sees the once-over Loki gives him. Steve cannot help but smile to himself. He knows what he looks like right now, still wet from the shower.  _Not so infallible after all._ Steve walks closer, seeing Loki tense up with each step he takes.

Maybe this is also something he can't do without.

He comes to stand right in front of Loki.

“The pressure’s pretty good”, Steve says, feeling like the little shit Bucky always blamed him of being, and smirks. “Enjoy yourself.”

He manages to take couple of steps, when Loki’s arm comes grabbing his bicep. Loki’s fingers dig into his arm, and the sharp pain that comes from it is something Steve finds himself welcoming with ease.

“I think I will.”

And with that Loki lets Steve go, and walks briskly towards the showers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a lil longer than expected because work has been hEEeeEeEeELLLiiiisH  
> but we're back and better than ever. at least i hope so. i mean there's an almost smooch happening here, which is way better than no promise of a smooch at all
> 
> not sure when the next update will be up but i hope soon? because i'm having such a good time writing this
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH. FOR THE COMMENTS. they truly make my day and help me gather up the mojo to write when i come home from work as an exhausted bag of bones. love y'all 💕


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